Suspected falsification of employment reference?

Suspected falsification of employment reference?

13:20 PM, 5th March 2019, About 5 years ago 15

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I have just let out two properties in the London area through 1 agent to 2 tenants. The agent provided us Veri Check reference check, employer reference, and passport IDs. However, after I received the tenant’s contact info, something looked odd so I went back to double check the reference by contacting both employers of the new tenants.

The employers denied knowledge of these tenants and the Veri Check report was verified by the agent themselves. At this point, I don’t even know if their passport IDs are genuine.

Can anyone help?

1) if the tenancy agreement can be revoked?

2) what recourse do I have against the agent?

Many thanks

Paul


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Comments

rrr

10:20 AM, 6th March 2019, About 5 years ago

I have had the same problem some dodgy agents are helping this kind of people just to get their commission. Are you in the London NW area as might be same tenant i have evicted.

Beaver

11:11 AM, 6th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Providing false references is fraud. If you google "fraud tenancy false references"you'll find links like this

https://www.propertyindustryeye.com/tenant-supplied-fake-references-agents-jailed/

So the first thing you need to do is check your facts and get everything in writing. You need documentation of the fact that what you have been provided with is fraudulent.

Britain

6:55 AM, 7th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by rrr at 06/03/2019 - 10:20
I don't even know if the previous address is fake or not. They have written down that their last tenancy was from Bromley.

Rob Crawford

12:42 PM, 7th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Letting agents that employ referencing/credit check companies in my experience, tend to be 100% reliant on the results given by the ref/credo company. Cross referencing is seldom done. As a landlord, I always ask for a copy of the check results and on occasion I check the credentials of the employer and former landlord. I have also checked the validity of passports using "Landlord Referencing" facility they have for this. Companies House is great for confirming director level employers and contact details. However, why should any landlord that employs an agency have to do this? Paul, you need to verify that fraud has been committed and you need to determine who is responsible. Most likely the tenants have provided false information. As there are a number of parties that could be implicated, I would then consult a solicitor on how to proceed.

Chris @ Possession Friend

22:26 PM, 7th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Paul,
My company do this kind of work, assisting Landlords who have employed a third party ( usually a Letting Agent to find a tenant and carry out reference check - for which you are contracting them as professionals to carry out a task with reasonable diligence.
There are two relevant stated cases ; Hale v Blue Sky Properties, 2016, and Shevlin v Sequence 2016. Both cases were Landlords ( successfully ) being awarded All their losses against the agent they had employed to carry out the process. If an Agent has sub-contracted the reference ( as they usually do ) then that is a seperate action they have to bring against the reference company for their losses [ to you ]
If you want us to assist you, please get in touch. My company have been contributors in various articles on Property118, the most recent being the 'Lack of Justice'

Hamish McBloggs

15:16 PM, 8th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by JJ at 06/03/2019 - 11:11
Not according to the Kent Constabulary or Action Fraud ... insufficient evidence and misplaced trust.

Which I interpret as ... we can almost certainly gather evidence required to bring a prosecution ... if you were important and we had nothing better to do.

This level of fraud goes unpunished.

Hamish

DALE ROBERTS

19:25 PM, 8th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Hamish McBloggs at 08/03/2019 - 15:16
Action Fraud are useless and indifferent.

Robert M

23:38 PM, 10th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Have the tenant actually defaulted yet? They may prove to be good. A lot of mortgages were taken out using iffy evidence of earnings but the loans were honoured.

Britain

9:30 AM, 12th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Daniel at 07/03/2019 - 22:26
Just wondering giving false information on their employment reference alone would consider fraud and that alone we can kick the tenant out without going to court right? Could you let us know how would it be different if we seek your help instead of a solicitor? I am new to the website, so not quite sure how I can reach you.

Luke P

9:40 AM, 12th March 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by BB at 12/03/2019 - 09:30
You won't be able to just kick them out as housing holds a special place in law (namely its own legislation of both the Housing Act and Landlord & Tenant Act), which essentially means you can forget everything you know/have ever learned from living in this world. Common sense is also not applicable.

The mechanism by which you would get rid of an employee with a false reference would be either them not being in the job for more than two years (so they've little rights anyway) or gross misconduct that could be carried out officially. Unlike less clearcut reasons for dismissal, there would be little, if any, defence to a proven false reference.

A tenant (no matter how falsified their reference) would not fall into either of the above two categories.

Not every action has parity across different parts of society/legislation/industries etc.

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